Not Like Other Girls

I received this book for free from the publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Not Like Other Girls by Meredith Adamo
Narrator: Georgina Sadler, Meredith Adamo
Published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA on April 30, 2024
Genres: Young Adult Fiction / Social Themes / Friendship
Length: 12 hours 12 minutes
Pages: 448
Format: ARC, Audiobook
Source: Publisher
Goodreads
Amazon | Audible | B&N | Kobo | Libro.fm

“Powerful, brilliantly plotted, voicey, gripping, beautiful, heart-wrenching, hilarious . . . Read this book.” -Liz Lawson, New York Times bestselling author of The Agathas

When Jo-Lynn Kirby 's former best friend-pretty, nice Maddie Price-comes to her claiming to be in trouble, Jo assumes it's some kind of joke. After all, Jo has been an outcast ever since her nude photos were leaked-and since everyone decided she deserved it. There's no way Maddie would actually come to her for help.

But then Maddie is gone.

Everyone is quick to write off Maddie as a runaway, but Jo can't shake the feeling there's more to the story. To find out the truth, Jo needs to get back in with the people who left her behind-and the only way back in is through Hudson Harper-Moore. An old fling of Jo's with his own reasons for wanting to find Maddie, Hudson hatches a fake dating scheme to get Jo back into their clique. But being back on the inside means Jo must confront everything she'd rather forget: the boys who betrayed her, the whispers that she had it coming, and the secrets that tore her and Maddie apart. As Jo digs deeper into Maddie's disappearance, she's left to wonder who she's really searching for: Maddie, or the girl she used to be.

Not Like Other Girls is a stunning debut that takes a hard look at how we treat young women and their trauma, through the lens of a missing girl and a girl trying to find herself again.

This was a great book! I am surprised by just how much I connected to the main character, Jo-Lynn. Jo-Lynn is one of those girls everyone has labeled a “bad girl.” Her old friend Maddie would never come to her for help but does exactly that before disappearing. Jo teams up with Hudson to figure out what really happened and learns many things in the process. I was immediately hooked by this story and had a very hard time setting it aside because I had to know how things would work out.

I enjoyed this mystery and loved how layered the story was. There is a lot more to Jo than we see at first. She has been through a few things which have left their mark on her. She does her best but everyone seems to expect the worst from her and don’t even give her a chance anymore. She doesn’t have many friends at the start of this story so I was thrilled to see her start to connect with Hudson.

I listened to the audiobook and thought Georgina Sadler did a fantastic job with this story. This book was rather emotional at times and the narrator did a great job capturing that aspect of the story. She did a fantastic job of bringing the story to life through the voices she used for the various characters. I had no problems listening to this book for hours at a time and am certain that her performance added to my overall enjoyment.

I would recommend this book to others. I had a great time with this book and am amazed that this is the author’s debut novel. The book touches on some pretty big topics which I appreciated. I can’t wait to read more of this author’s work.

I received a review copy of this book from Bloomsbury Publishing USA.

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